Clubhouse Insider Boston Red Sox News

Dustin Pedroia, Shane Victorino lead Red Sox to win over Rangers

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ARLINGTON, Texas -- Late last summer, as the Red Sox' march from last place to the AL East crown picked up steam, Drake's "Started From The Bottom" became the team's unofficial anthem, blaring in the clubhouse and over the Fenway Park sound system.

Now, hovering around .500 and seeking a jolt for the offense, the Sox must start at the top.

Of the batting order, that is.

Over the past two weeks, Dustin Pedroia has settled into the leadoff spot, while Shane Victorino has returned from the disabled list and reclaimed the No. 2 hole. And between them, they collected five hits and five RBI and reached base seven times in nine plate appearances here Saturday night, helping to knock Texas Rangers starter Martin Perez from the game in only the fourth inning and open a six-run lead for lefty Jon Lester en route to an 8-3 victory.

"The top of our lineup is going to make us go all year long, the way I see it," catcher David Ross said after the Red Sox inched back to .500 (18-18) and bounced back from nearly getting no-hit Friday night by Rangers ace Yu Darvish with an 11-hit attack. "That's what they're supposed to do. We need those guys to have good games."

Especially considering the youth in the bottom half of the order. In time, 21-year-old Xander Bogaerts will begin to hit with runners on base, and fellow rookie Jackie Bradley Jr. will look more comfortable at the plate. For now, though, there are still growing pains for them and for young third baseman Will Middlebrooks.

David Ortiz and Mike Napoli have done their jobs in the middle of the order, combining for 12 homers, including the 438th of Ortiz’ career, which opened a 2-0 lead in the third inning against Perez and tied him with Andre Dawson and Jason Giambi for 40th on the all-time list. But Ortiz and Napoli can't drive in runs if nobody is on base, which is precisely where Pedroia and Victorino come in.

While the Red Sox wait for the bottom of the order to pull more of its weight, Pedroia and Victorino must be constants at the top.

"We've got to get on base and start the offense," Pedroia said. "The bottom, they'll come around. Jackie was on base a lot tonight, Will was on base. They're going to get better and better the more they see guys. We can't put too much pressure on ourselves. We've just got to go do what we do."

For Victorino, that meant three hits, including an RBI single that opened the scoring in the second inning and a two-run single that drove home Bradley and Pedroia to make it 4-0 during the Sox' four-run fourth.

Pedroia, meanwhile, went 2-for-3 with two walks. And in the eighth inning, after the Rangers cut the lead to 6-3 against Lester, he doubled home Middlebrooks before Victorino lifted a sacrifice fly to increase the margin of error for the bullpen in the final two innings.

With that, Pedroia hiked his on-base percentage out of the leadoff spot from .346 to .372, which is more in line with his .369 career total and more of what the Red Sox are looking for as he steps into the breach created by Jacoby Ellsbury’s free agent departure. Last year, Ellsbury and Victorino were a dynamic 1-2 punch atop the order, and if Pedroia and Victorino can begin to duplicate that, the Sox offense will seem far more dangerous.

“What Pedey and Vic were able to do at the top of the order, a number of base hits, it was good to see some base hits with runners in scoring position,” manager John Farrell said. “It’s been a few days since we’ve been able to put up the number of runs we did today.”